Trackway scraper



July 1, 1958 J. M. MUNDELL ETAL 2,840,930

TRACKWAY SCRAPER 7 Filed March 21, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet l l I n+1 l JAMESM. MUNDE LL and their Attorney.

Y /A/ VIEW TORS.

y. 1958 J- M. MUNDELL ET AL 2,840,930

TRACKWAY SCRAPER Filed March 21, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 R\:"\ F R 54 PIE:4. 54 29 28 INVENTORS? JAMES M. MUNDELL and JOHN PA l/LOV/CH, Jr,

their Attorney.

United States TRACKWAY SCRAPER Application March 21, 1956, Serial N 0.572,857

7 Claims. (Cl. 37-104) The present invention relates generally to railtrackway cleaning equipment and more particularly to apparatus mountableon a track vehicle for scraping the track bed of a trackway.

In the operation of railway systems for transporting raw materials inand around industrial plants, the problem of maintaining the track bedsclean and free of fallen material and debris is a problem that is everpresent and one that detrimentally aflfects the efiicient functioning ofthe system. The task of keeping the trackway clean is particularlyarduous and time consuming Where the raw material being hauled is infine granular or powder form. Such material tends to leak out of thecars during transit and this leaking material together with the materialnor mally spilled during transfer causes the track bed to be coveredwith a considerable accumulation of material in a short time.

Up to the time of our invention one industrial installation where aparticularly troublesome trackway cleaning problem existed was the blastfurnace stock house. In the blast furnace stock house, iron ore,limestone and coke for the blast furnace are continually beingtransferred by larry car from storage bins to furnace charging skipbuggies. The raw materials are loaded into the hoppers of the larry carfrom overhead storage bins and then transported along a trackway systemto a pit where the material is dumped into skip buggies for charginginto the furnace. A portion of the trackway extends over the pit so thatthe larry cars may be positioned over the skip buggies which are loweredinto the pit for filling. The larry car is self-propelled and operatedby a workman riding in the car. During the continual transfer operation,material is constantly being spilled along the length of the trackway sothat cleaning the track bed is a continuous operation. Prior to ourinvention the cleaning operation was usually accomplished by manuallabor which not only made the operation time consuming and ineflicientbut frequently hazardous as well.

The apparatus of the invention can be used with particular advantagemounted on a stock house larry car for keeping the stock house trackwaysystem clean and, there fore, the invention will be described inconnection with such an application. However, it is to be understoodthat the invention is not limited to such use.

It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide aretractible scraper mechanism including a scraper blade for scraping thetrack bed of a trackway which is adapted to be easily incorporated intothe structure of a vehicle mounted for travel on the rails of thetrackway.

Another object of the invention is to provide a retractible scrapermechanism as described above which when installed on a track mountedvehicle can be operated from a remote station on the vehicle to lowerthe scraper blade to scrape the surface of the track bed as the vehicletravels 'therealong in either forward or reverse direction withoutinterfering with the travel of the vehicle.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedtrack bed scraper of the character described which is adapted to beeasily and inexpensively installed on presently existing railway rollingstock.

These and other objects will become more apparent after referring to thefollowing specification and attached drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view;

Figure Z is a cross sectional view taken on the line Il-II of Figure l;1

Figure 3 is an elevational view taken on the line Ill-Ill of Figure 2;and

Figure 4 is a plan view.

Referring more particularly to the drawing reference numeral 2designates the frame of a stock house larry car 4 having the uprightbase plate 6 of the invention fixedly mounted on one end thereof bymeans of bolts 7. The larry car 4 is wheel mounted on the rails R of atrackway T for self-propelled travel therealong. The base plate 6 isdisposed with its longitudinal axis extending transversely of thetrackway and its bottom edge spaced above the rails R.

A substantially L-shaped angle bar 8, having a relatively short web orleg 10 and a relatively long flange or leg 12, is mounted, by welding orsimilar means, on the inner face 14 of the base plate 6 adjacent eachside edge thereof. Each angle bar 8 is disposed with its longitudinalaxis parallel with the side edges of the base plate and its flangeportion 12 parallel with and spaced from the inner face 14 of the baseplate. Each of the flanges 12 is directed toward the vertical centerline of the base plate. The angle bars 8 form guideways 16 with theinner face 14 for receiving the ends of a scraper plate or blade whichwill be further described. One or more substantially horizontallydisposed L-shaped flanges 18 may be welded to the outer surface of eachof the angle bars and to the inner face 14, as best shown in Figure 4,to serve as stiffeners.

A pair of vertically spaced and aligned substantially rectangularopenings 26 is provided in the flange portion 12 of each of the anglebars 8. Similar openings 22 are provided in the base plate 6horizontally aligned with the openings 20. The openings 20 and 22 taperinwardly to a reduced area toward the inner face 14 of the base plate 6.A freely rotatable roller 24 journaled in bearings 26, which are mountedon the outer surface of each flange 12 adjacent each opening 20, isfitted into each of the openings 20 with a portion of its peripheralsurface projecting outwardly of the reduced area portion of the opening.Freely rotatable rollers 28, similar to rollers 26, are journaled inbearings 29, which are disposed on the outer face 39 of the base plate6, with portions of their peripheries projecting outwardly of thereduced area of openings 22. The rollers 24 and 28 are spaced apart asuflicient distance from each other so as to receive and roll on thesurface of a scraper plate or blade 32 which is slidably disposedtherebetween. A pair of spaced pulleys 34 and 34 is rotatably mounted onthe inner face 14 of the base plate 6 adjacent its upper edge by meansof brackets 36 for receiving cables 38 and 38, respectively,therearound, as shown in Figures 3 and 4.

The scraper plate or blade 32 is supported for vertical shding movementon the base plate 6 with its ends slidably disposed in the guideways 16.The scraper plate 32 is suspended from the upper portion of base plate 6by means of the cables 38 and 38' which are attached by their lower ends42 and 42, respectively, to horizontally aligned and spaced projections40 and 40' respectively, disposed adjacent the upper edge of the scraperplate. Each of the cables 38 and 38' extends from its connection withits respective projection and passes over the pulleys 34 and 34',respectively, as is best sh n F ure 38 passes around horizontallydisposed pulleys 45 and 45 and is attached to the projecting end of apiston rod 46 of a pressure cylinder 48. After the cable 3., passes overthe pulley 34', its end 44' is joined to the adjacent portion of thecable 38 so that upon projection or retraction of the piston rod 46 thescraper plate 32 will be raised or lowered in a level manner. Althoughwe have shown the pressure cylinder 48 mounted in the body of the larrycar 4 it may be mounted on the base plate 6 or anywhere on'the vehiclewhich is convenient or desired. A valve 50 for controlling the flow ofpressure fluid to and from the cylinder 48 through a supply line 51 islocated adjacent the operators station in the larry car so that it maybe conveniently manipulated by the operator while he is operating thecar.

The bottom edge of the scraper plate 32 is provided with a vertical slot52 adjacent each side edge thereof into which is fitted a guide lug 54which projects normal to both faces of the scraper plate. The bottomsurface of each of the lugs 54 is spaced slightly above the plane of thebottom edge. of the scraper plate 32 and tapers slightly upwardly fromapproximately the vertical center line of the lug out to the free endthereof. The lugs 54 guide the bottom edge of the scraper plate over thetrack bed and thereby prevent binding of the scraper plate in theguideways 16. The bottom edge of the base plate 6 is provided with slots56 for receiving the guide lugs when the scraper plate is in raisedposition.

Scraper plate 32 is substantially rectangular in shape and has its lowerouter corners cut away as at 58 and 60 to provide clearance for therails R as shown in Figure 3. The scraper plate may be dimensioned asshown so as to extend from the inside of one rail to the inside of theother rail of the trackway so as to span the entire track bed betweenthe rails. Although we have shown the scraper plate 32 dimensioned onlyto extend between the rails R, it will be noted that it may be madelonger so as to extend beyond the rails if desired. In this case thecut-out corners 58 and 60 become slots for accommodating the rails.

Spaced apart vertical bars 62 may be welded to the face 64 of thescraper blade 32 remote from the base plate 6 to serve as stiffeners forthe blade.

In operation, when it is desired to scrape the trackway, the valve 50 ismanipulated by the operator of the larry car to energize cylinder 48 tocause projection of the piston rod 46 and consequent lowering of thescraper plate 32 to the surface of the trackway. The scraper plate 32 inthis position will clean the area of the track bed between the rails asthe larry car carries raw materials along the trackway to the pit. Thematerial cleaned from the track bed is scraped over the edge of the pitas the larry car enters upon the portion of trackway spanning the pit.The scraper may be used while the larry car travels in either forward orreverse direction over the trackway. When it is used to scrape portionsof the trackway remote from the pit, the materials scraped from thetrack bed is accumulated in a pile at the end of the path of travel ofthe larry car and then disposed of in any convenient manner. After thetrackway has been cleaned, the pressure cylinder 48 is again actuated toretract the piston rod 46. Retraction of the piston rod raises thescraper plate clear of the trackway. The scraper plate is maintained inthis position until it is desired to clean the track bed again.

It will be noted that although we have shown the apparatus of ourinvention mounted on a larry car, it will be noted that the apparatus ofthe invention may be mounted or incorporated into the structure of anyother rolling stock traveling over a trackway as desired.

While one embodiment of our invention has been The opposite end 4- ofcable shown and described, it ill be apparent that other adaptations andmodifications may be made without departing from the scope of thefollowing claims.

We claim:

1. In a vehicle having a frame mounted for travel along the rails of atrackway the improvement therewith of a retractible scraper for scrapingparticles of material from said trackway which comprises a verticallydisposed base plate rigidly mounted on one end of said frame with itslongitudinal axis extending transversely of said trackway, means forminga pair of: spaced vertical guideways on one face of said base plate, oneadjacent each end of the plate, a vertically disposed scraper plateslidably mounted on said one face of said base plate with its side edgesslidingly fitted in said guideways, the longitudinal axis of saidscraper plate being parallel with the longitudinal axis of said baseplate, extensible suspension means carried by said base plate supportingsaid scraper plate, power means connected with said suspension means forextending and retracting the same to thereby lower and raise saidscraper plate toward and away from said trackway, and control meanslocated on said vehicle for actuating said power means.

2. The improvement as defined by claim 1 characterized by said baseplate having openings therethrough, rollers journaled for free rotationin bearsings disposed on said base plate adjacent said openings with aportion of their peripheries projecting from said openings to contactone surface of said scraper plate, said guideway forming means havingopenings therethrough opposite the openings in the base plate, androllers journaled for free rotation in bearings disposed on saidguideway means with a portion of their peripheries projecting toward andcontacting the surface of said scraper plate remote from said baseplate.

3. In a vehicle having a frame mounted for travel along the rails of atrackway the improvement therewith of a retractible scraper for scrapingparticles of material from said trackway which comprises a verticallydisposed base plate rigidly mounted on one end of said frame with itslongitudinal axis extending transversely of said trackway, said baseplate having at least two horizontally spaced openings therethrough,means forming a pair of spaced vertical guideways on one face of saidbase plate, one adjacent each end of the plate, said last named meansincluding an angle bar having a web and flange portion fixedly mountedadjacent to and parallel with each side edge of said base plate with itsflange directed toward the vertical center line of the base plateparallel with and spaced from one face of said base plate, each of saidflange portions having an opening therethrough aligned with one of saidopenings in the base plate, a vertically disposed scraper plate slidablymounted on said one face of said base plate with its side edges slidably fitted between said flanges and the face of the base plate, thelongitudinal axis of said scraper plate being parallel with thelongitudinal axis of said base plate, rollers journaled for freerotation in each of the openings in the base plate and the flanges witha portion of their peripheries contacting one face of said scraperplate, extensible suspension means carried by said base plate supportingsaid scraper plate, power means connected with said suspension means forextending and retracting the same to thereby lower and raise saidscraper plate toward and away from the surface of said trackway, andcontrol means located on said vehicle for actuating said power means.

4. The improvement as defined by claim 3 characterized by saidsuspension means including a pair of spaced pulleys rotatably mounted onsaid base plate adjacent the upper edge thereof, a pair of cables eachpassing around one of said pulleys with one end secured to the upperportion of said scraper plate and its other end connected with saidpower means, the said one ends 5 of said cables being attached to saidscraper plate at horizontally aligned and spaced points on said scraperplate, said cables being dimensioned to suspend said scraper plate withits bottom edge in a level horizontal plane.

5. The improvement as defined by claim 4 characterized by said powermeans including a pressure cylinder having a piston rod projectingtherefrom, and said cables being connected with the projecting end ofsaid piston rod.

6. The improvement as defined by claim 3 including spaced elongatedguide lugs carried by said scraper plate adjacent its bottom edge andprojecting normal to the opposed faces of said scraper plate, the bottomsurface 6 of each of said guide lugs being tapered slightly upwardly inthe direction away from the scraper plate.

7. The improvement as defined by claim 6 characterized by said baseplate having spaced vertical slots along its bottom edge for receivingthe portions of said guide lugs projecting from the face of said scraperplate adjacent said base plate when said scraper plate is raised fromthe surface of said trackway.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS978,691 Cafi'erty et al. Dec. 13, 1910 2,214,207 Shipley Sept. 10, 19402,574,118 McWilliams Nov. 6, 1951 2,665,506 Kershaw Ian. 12, 1954

